<p>Due to extreme levels of homework this year I've been eating my words and am not going to self study more than 1 or 2 AP tests this year. With a good prep book [suggestions?], how much studying is required to get a 5 on this test?</p>
<p>bump… please i need help
most CCers are of the opinion that it’s a really easy AP test, but i’d like to know what exactly that entails (e.g. 1 day of study, 1 weekend, 1 week, 1 month…)</p>
<p>really? nobody will answer?</p>
<p>I’d also like to know this</p>
<p>I’m curious too. My teacher is a first timer APer… I’m not confident… I will have to self-study.</p>
<p>anyone know?
and i’m talking about full self study, from 0 knowledge, to 5 level.</p>
<p>Well I have not taken the test, but I have a friend who will and can tell you what I know about it just from what I’ve heard. The APES exam can be somewhat considered a corollary to the Bio exam in regards to the fact that it parallels much of the ecology section; therefore, if you have taken AP Biology or have a decent knowledge of economy (biomes, mutualism, parasitism, etc…) just terms, then you should have a pretty good basis and preparation should not take very long. My friend, who is the current Valedictorian, is planning on cramming the weekend before from the Smartypants AP prep book I lent him (It’s the most referred one on CC). I have no worries that it is possible for him to get a 5, but knowing his cocky nature he may do worse. So Just study bit by bit until exam day, but you can gauge your own intellect and ability to absorb vocabulary and concepts with ease. If you are a superb student and memorizer, then just cram and you should be okay, but all in all, get the Smartypants prep book and remember its similar to the Economy portion of Biology. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks <em>bump again</em></p>
<p>Anyone else?
I have the barrons book already</p>
<p>I’m self-studying this exam. I’m using Barron’s Flashcards and Smartypants. I’m going to treat it like a science version of AP Human Geography. I’ve already taken APHG so I’m going to approach this just as I did APHG. However, I took the APHG class and I’m self-studying APES so I’m obviously going to do a much more thorough study of the prep book and flashcards.</p>
<p>I’m also taking AP World History (class + exam) and AP Psychology (self-studying)</p>
<p>P.S. @bobtheboy I heard the Barron’s book has a lot of superfluous information. The Consolidated Book Suggestion thread recommends Smartypants Guide to Environmental Science. I wouldn’t doubt the average CC’er (aka someone who gets 5’s on everything)</p>
<p>AP Environmental can be studied from a month before the test if you study the material 1-2 hours each night. I heard it’s mostly common sense and a few extra topics to learn, so it shouldn’t be hard to score a 5 on the exam, especially if you have SmartyPants. Most people I know have studied it 1 -4 weeks.</p>
<p>I have exactly 4 [by no means otherwise free] weekends in which to study it.
I’m not sure if Smartypants is available locally. I am what you would call an “average CCer” and I actually didn’t use the book suggestions last year, so I’d rather not buy a new book (i want to save my money). I might borrow “SmartyPants” if I can find one. are there any other common-brand APES books (aka princeton review, 5 steps to a 5, kaplan) that are good? I’m sure I could locate one of those, but I’ve never heard of smartypants before</p>
<p>Only APES is feasible by now.</p>
<p>I had the class last year. It was the first time she taught the AP course but she taught environmental science in college before as a professor before becoming a high school teacher. She made the class frighteningly difficult. I barely did HW as they were very long. The labs were excruciatingly difficult and I did poorly on them. I barely opened my textbook. (I later realized everything in the textbook was pointless to read because my teacher had gone over all the chapters in-depth during lectures) All I did was pay attention during the lectures (and take a lot of notes which I went over before class exams) and read the review book the two nights before the AP exam. </p>
<p>I got a 5.</p>
<p>The AP multiple choice are very straightforward and just require certain facts to be recalled. Oftentimes you can eliminate wrong answers pretty easily as well. </p>
<p>The FRQ are more in depth. You will need to recall many facts and use them together to illustrate your point. You will need to be fast at doing addition and multiplication with three-digit numbers, with some subtraction and division as well. At least one FRQ (and at most two, I believe) will have arithmetic calculations that need to be done by hand, and all steps and units must be shown. It is usually a question about electric power generation. It was in fact for me, the most time consuming part of the exam, despite being a math-oriented person. I still finished in time though.</p>
<p>Take the APES exam, especially if you have a good knowledge of ecology.</p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Princeton Review is also a great prep book for AP Environmental Science</p>
<p>+1 for Pr. 10chra</p>
<p>Is it better to self-study APES than take it online since it’s supposed to be an easy exam?</p>